Paula
by seaofmidnight
Summary: A five year old is the key to saving another child's life. The only problem, she won't talk. The BAU can solve anything though. They just have to find the right person.
1. chapter 1

"JJ!" Gideon yelled on his way out of the station. "Get Gary Lambert's picture out to the media now! We need to find this monster before he kills Tessa!"

The blond liaison nodded and pulled out her phone. The rest of the team hurried off to find the wife of Lambert. She was possibly the only other person who knew the location of the hunting cabin the team was sure he had taken twelve year old Tessa Baker. It was his safety net but ironically the place where a bear mauled his own little sister twenty years ago. Garcia had told them that the mother had a habit of disappearing ever since Paula was an infant and not to expect her to be home.

"Guys be as gentle as you can." Gideon forewarned. "We don't know what kind of mental damage Gary caused Paula Lambert."

Hotch, Morgan, Elle and Reid all grimaced. The five year old had been physically and emotionally abused for who knows how long, maybe since she was an infant. Gary was known to be abusive, temperamental and prone to outbursts but Paula and her mother were too scared to report the abuse, her mother running instead. The neighbor only came forward when Gary was arrested for drug possession. The charges were later dropped, and the neighbor committed suicide.

"We're here."

The team sprang out of the car and Elle knocked on the door. There was no response.

"Megan Lambert?" Elle called. Gideon, Hotch, Reid and Morgan stayed silent, as did the four policemen surrounding the home in case Gary showed up. "FBI? We need your help!"

The door slowly opened to reveal one little hazel eye peeking from the tiny crack between the door and the frame. The five year old looked terrified. Elle crouched down to reach the little girls eye level and pulled out her badge, a soft smile on her face.

"Hello. I'm Elle. Are you Paula?" The little girl nodded. "Is your mom home?"

She shook her head. Elle looked back at Gideon who shook his head as well. They needed to find Tessa, not run around trying to find Paula's mother.

"We need your help to find your dad, Gary?"

At the mention of Gary's name, Paula's brown eyes went wide and she began to hyperventilate.

"D-daddy? Where?" She cried, backing away from the door with her arms curled tightly around her middle. Elle tried to calm her.

"He's not here! Paula, he's not here but we need your help. Will you come with us?"

The men had retreated to the cars when Paula refused to come out of the house if they were present. Gideon's heart ached. Gary had done so much damage that Paula wouldn't trust anybody of the male gender at all and at such a tender age as well. She seemed on edge with Elle as well and it worked the older profiler. If the girl even knew where the cabin was, she wouldn't talk to any of them. The BAU men all rode uncomfortably in one SUV, while Elle and Paula rode in the other, Elle snatching a car seat from the garage. When they got to the police station again, they saw JJ being overwhelmed by the press. Elle managed to both cause a scene but also avoid hitting any reporters as she quickly saved JJ a little bit of grief. She didn't notice the way Paula's eyes brightened when she saw JJ before she drove away.

Inside the station, Elle brought the girl and sat her down on a couch in the Chief's office. She looked uneasily out the window at all the male officers wincing everytime a door slammed or a particularly loud shout echoed through the station. The little girl looked scared out of her mind and it pained Elle to not be able to help.

"Paula? I know you're scared but you can trust me. Have you seen this place before?" the profiler showed the little girl the photo of the cabin. They had tried to pinpoint the location but it was strategically placed-in the middle of nowhere. When Paula didn't respond, Elle pulled out Tessa's picture.

"Please, Paula, look, he took this girl. Her name is Tessa and she's twelve years old. If we don't find her, Gary is going to do very bad things to her."

Paula just scooted away from Elle on the couch, nervously tapping the edge of the soft leather. Elle got up and left the room, making sure to softly shut the door. She sighed as the team looked at her expectantly.

"Nothing. She's too scared."

Gideon rubbed a hand over his face. "We should have kept her at home. She would've felt more comfortable. We don't know who she trusts, it's not her father, it's not her mother. She has no aunts uncles or other relatives..."

"We couldn't run the risk of Gary finding out she had talked if he came back by keeping her at home." Hotch disagreed. "If we could just find the person she trusts… all five year olds have at least one. But it could be a complete stranger and we don't have time to chase them down."

They continued on solutions and didn't notice when the TV in the briefing room turned on, JJ's face appearing as she gave a press conference. They did notice however, when Paula zipped across the room and sat as close to the opposing window as she could, looking with wide eyes at something.

"What is she doing?" Morgan wondered.

"Look at her face!" Gideon said. "She recognizes someone. Her security net. The one person in this world she trusts!"

"But who?" Reid wondered, looking around, scanning for any new faces. "There are ten officers here, besides us, none of which are female. If it's not Elle…"


	2. chapter 2

"It's JJ." Gideon said, pointing to their blond liaison's picture in the screen. Morgan turned without another word. He ran out of the building and towards the huge crowd of bustling reporters, cameras and microphones. He ran into the crowd, straight towards his friend and leaned towards JJ's ear, shocking her slightly. He didn't care how much of a scene he was making. He leaned towards the microphones.

"This press conference is over."

The press loudly objected but Morgan was already pushing JJ off towards the doors. He pulled her along, explaining as they went.

"The girl won't talk to any of the male species and won't talk to Elle either. She responded when your picture appeared on the TV screen so we think she may respond to you."

The remaining team saw the commotion on screen. Elle glanced back and tapped Gideon lightly.

"Look at Paula."

Everyone turned. The girl was strightbacked and staring at the screen with fear.

"She's scared." Hotch murmured.

"Of what?" Reid wondered.

"Not of what…. For who." Gideon mused as he watched her panic escalate, her small hands gripping the sides of the window, when Morgan dragged JJ off.

"You believe she thinks that Morgan is abusing JJ. Like Gary abused her." Hotch sighed. Gideon nodded. Morgan and JJ appeared through the doors. Suddenly, a tiny flurry slammed into Morgan's arm, making him abruptly release JJ, his hold not tight to begin with. JJ grunted slightly as Paula threw herself into her arms. The girl wasn't heavy but the liaison wasn't expecting the ambush. Still, JJ instinctively propped the little girl on her hip. The team watched as Paula gasped, almost in amazement, reaching up to gently touch the contour of JJ's jaw with her tiny hand.

"Minha melhor amiga…"

"My best friend…" Reid translated. At the rest of the team's confused looks, he elaborated. "Portuguese."

Gideon stepped forward and Paula threw her arms tightly around JJ's neck, causing the blond to gently pat her back soothingly. She looked at Gideon with such a feral expression for a child that the profiler hesitated.

"Não!" She cried, swatting at the air between Gideon and JJ. "Ela vai me proteger e eu vou protegê-la!"

"Reid?" Hotch asked. Reid looked sad.

"No… she will protect me and I will protect her."

Hotch slipped JJ an extra earpiece. "If she wears it, Reid can translate. Go into the chief's office."

JJ nodded and smiled at the girl, making her eyes sparkle. Paula snuggled into JJ, content. JJ sat them down on the couch. She had luckily taken a few language classes in highschool and knew minimal Portuguese. As well, when she had been taken to Afghanistan, one of her fellow soldiers knew some Portuguese. Marco was a brave man. Shaking off the reminiscence, JJ turned her attention back to the child. She held up the extra earpiece and showed it to Paula. Turning her head, JJ pointed to the one she had in her ear.

"Vejo?"

Paula looked dubious but tried to put it on. JJ chuckled slightly and held out her hand. Paula relinquished the earpiece and JJ fixed it for her. Hotch had closed the line so she could be heard but couldn't hear them. JJ saw the pictures and picked them up.

"Paula, pode me ajudar?" she asked.

The team looked at Reid. He didn't turn away from JJ and Paula as he replied to their unspoken question, "Paula, can you help me."

Paula nodded, smiling broadly. "Sim. Você me ajudou."

"Yes, you helped me." Reid said.

JJ was confused at to how she had protected this defenseless little girl from her monster of a father but decided to go with it for Tessa's sake. She smiled back.

"Você já viu isso antes?"

"Have you seen this before."

Paula looked at the cabin with fear in her eyes. JJ quickly put the photo down and opened her arms. Paula buried her head in the crevice between JJ's shoulder and neck. At first, JJ thought she wasn't going to get an answer.

"Sim. Meu pai me levou e minha mãe lá. Eu não gostei disso."

"Yes. My father took me and my mother there. I didn't like it."

JJ rubbed Paula's back. Paula wondered why her mother and father never acted like her best friend. Even on TV, she knew that she would be kind and gentle. She would save her. Agent Jennifer Jareau would protect her. And she did. Whenever she showed up on the TV, her father would leave and her mother would give her some soup. This woman always protected her. No matter where she was.

"Can you show me, Paula?"

Paula held tightly to JJ's hand as they bumped along the road to the forest. Elle drove quickly, keeping her eyes peeled.

"Aqui."

Elle hit the brakes, bringing the procession behind her to a screeching halt as well. JJ took Paula out of her car seat and quickly opened the door. Paula stiffened in her arms at the sight of all the men but clung to JJ and knew she was safe. She pointed forwards.

"There."

The agents and cops took off running. JJ managed to keep up, reminding Elle jokingly that she was her high school soccer star.

"There." Paula said, pointing over to a large hill. They were deep in the woods with so many twists and turns, everyone was surprised when the cabin showed up.

"Stay with Paula, JJ!" Gideon shouted, a little bit of concern seeping in. JJ was not trained to be out in the field. She was a heck of a shot but she just wasn't trained. Nevertheless, he stormed in as well. JJ uneasily looked around. The woods always gave her chills. Suddenly, JJ felt the cold of a gun barrel against her neck.

"Don't. Move."


	3. Chapter 3

"Clear!"

Everyone was devastated. No Gary, no Tessa and no time left. Hotch glanced at his watch, his eyes lowering.

"Damn." Gideon hissed. Suddenly, Paula came running into the cabin with tears streaming down her face. Elle shared a concerned look as Paula looked up at them with pure heartbreak.

"Help."

They ran after the little girl. Suddenly, a loud shot, then another and screaming caught their attention.

"Over there!"

Morgan sprinted faster than he thought humanly possible, his heart thudding hard in his chest. He ran down the hill and instantly fired. The unsub went down with a pained howl worthy of an injured animal.

"JJ!"

He ran to the blonde's side. Elle forced herself to turn and run to the traumatized but seemingly unharmed Tessa, who was staring at the fallen JJ in horror. The blond gasped, laying dazed on the ground. Morgan gripped the bullet wound on her abdomen while Gideon pressed down on the one in her chest.

"JJ, stay with us." Gideon practically begged, shedding his coat and pushing down hard. "C'mon, fight!"

JJ's head lolled to the side, her eyes heavy and unfocused. Jason grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. The older agent's eyes were brimming with rare tears.

"No! Fight, JJ!" he yelled, voice cracking. His chest ached. "You hear me? _Fight!_ You are not leaving us today!"

Elle sprinted to the road where two ambulances were stationed.

"Hurry!"

The trees were practically mowed down.

Morgan felt hot tears pool in the corners of his eyes as JJ's slipped closed. He shook them away.

"No, no! JJ! Dammit!"

Hotch said nothing, only falling to his knees beside the liaison's head. After what seemed like an eternity to everyone, JJ was on a stretcher and Gideon had piled into the back of the ambulance with the stunned Paula. Then they were gone.

The second ambulance took Elle and Tessa. The paramedic told them the name of the hospital but Derek could barely hear anything through his own pounding heartbeat.

He looked at his hands and clothes. They were covered in blood. JJ's blood. He then looked in utter disgust at the shaking body of Gary Lambert a few feet away.

Hotch had cuffed the man tightly then handed him off to an officer, not entirely trusting himself to resist the overwhelming urge to punch the man black and blue.

"You coward." He snarled in Lambert's face, making the bigger man flinch. The submissive action only served to fan the flame within the agent. "You shot her! The most caring, sensitive soul in the world. Never takes a spare moment for herself, she dedicates her life to finding and catching people like you. And you _shot_ her."

Morgan knew he was being ridiculous. He was talking to a an _unsub_ for crying out loud. But, with his heart heavy with grief and his mind clouded with worry and anger, he needed something, anything to vent his emotions. Turning, he raised his fist and threw a heavy punch at the nearest object, which happened to be the trunk of a tree.

"Morgan." Hotch said softly.

Morgan just ground his teeth before sprinting to the SUV to try and catch up to the ambulance.


End file.
